Kinder said Monday that high wages could reduce the number of homes that the Missouri Housing Development Commission can afford to finance.

The commission had previously voted to follow the federal prevailing wage on its projects. But a Sept. 30 revision of the federal wage rules significantly increased those amounts. For example, the federal prevailing wage for a carpenter in the Joplin area rose from $7.98 an hour to $21.47 an hour, plus $12.65 of fringe benefits.

Kinder wants the state housing commission to reconsider its decision to follow the federal wage rules at its Dec. 16 meeting.